St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-05
CHRIST'S PUBLICITY.
''These Things Were Not Done in a
COrneP''

w CfC NOI
Corner
Rev. W. j. LhamOn, at the Church of
Christ, took his text from Acts XVI,
%, and dwelt upon what he termed
1.-The publicity of Christ's Life" as
typifed especially in His death and
resurrection. He said: Did Agrippa
know that Jesus lived, died, and
arose? Paul says so, and Agrippa does
not say so. The publicity so boldly and
leading thought on this day. These
There was publicity of locality, public
ity of language, publicity of govern
ment and of religion.
First, of locality: A map of the old
world shows Judea not ''in a corner"
but near the center of the nations.
Egypt and Arabia to the south; Baby
lOnia and Persia to the east; ASSyria,
Asia Minor and Armenia to the north;
Greece, Italy, Spain and Carthagenia to
the west. Palestine III the center. The
armies of Egypt, of BabylOnia. of AS
syria, of Greece, of Rome SUGGESTIONS,
swept over it. From the north it was
the way to the south; from the south it
was the way the north. On the west it
east the desert with its camelS. JeruSa-
lem, the capital city, was by no means
among the least of the cities of the
time, and its temples and palaces were
among the wonders of the ancient
world. Palestine was rich land with
a dense population, and in the days of
John the Baptist and of Paul, its peO-
pie were travelling and trading in every
civilized land. In this great and we'll
known center Jesus lived and wrought
and taught.
Second, as to language: The Greek
was as universally spoken among the
nations that lay around Judea as the
English is in North America to-day.
The arms of Alexander had not only
conquered the nations, but had broken
through their dividing walls, and when
the breach was made the Greek Ian
guage rushed in following the Greek
arms, and with it much of Greek art and
customs and culture. In this cOSmOpol-
itan language of the ancient world Jesus
taught, and in it his disciple preached
and wrote. Not in some barbarOuS and
unknown language of the wild men of
the woods, or of the far-away islands of
the sea: nor in the rude and bungling
dialects of India; nor in the strange
and uncOuth jargOns of China sor ST.
IBERIA; not in any corner" language,
but in the cen trail one of the time, and
in what some think the most perfect
and beautiful language that ever graced
the lips of man, Jesus uttered, and his
disciples enShrined his immortal teach
ing.
Third, as to government and religion:
Everybody knows that Rome was first
in the former and that Judea was first
in the latter. If government was the
business of the Romans, religion was
that of the Jews. And government was
the business of Rome. The iron will of
the Caesars held sway over the fairest
portions of the world, and their legionS,
and their governors and prOcuratOrS
were in most of the lands that could be
called civilized. In Judea itself Jesus
could not be crucified till Rome said
"aye." Not in religious, not in po-
litical Corner did Jesus live and die,
but in religious and political world
center.
Greek language, Roman government,
Jewish religiOn-these three, all central,
all first In themselves, and there in
Palestine centrally stationed in the
WOrld-here Jesus wrought. In the
mission of Jesus and the establishment
of his church there is not one jOt or
title, there is not one whit or bit of
corner work" The gospel was not
struggled into the world, there was no
deception practiced, there was nothing
undetermined or hidden about it; it was
all bravely done, and in the glare of the
worlds best light.
Rosseau has been quoted as saying
that THE history of Socrates, which no
one presumes to doubt, is not so well at
tested as that of Jesus Christ"
There &c q oraat UrOnnd-yVOrE of fact
TO all of our Christian work; fact that
is vital to history and to human life. In
this the religion of Jesus is distin-
guished from all others unless it be that
of Moses. The conquest of Alexander
was that done i'll a corner? The cam
paigns of C;eSar-were they done in a
corner? The destruction of Jerusalem
was that done in a corner? The fall of
the Roman empire-did that take
place in corner of the
world? The English revolution,
the French revolution, the American
revolution; Napoleon, Cromwell and
Washington are these great acts and
these great men ''done i'll a corner?''
Jesus is as much of an historic character
as George Washington, and the facts of
his life are as well atteSted. Why do
you believe the one so easily and so
hardly the other? When the American
revolution can be explained without
Washington aud jefferson, and the
battles of Syracuse and Yorktown, then
may we explain the church with all that
is great and divine in it without Jesus
and the resurrection.
Jesus stands in the noontide of an
cient history. and lifted there on the
cross and rising there from the grave
he commands the gaze of the historic
world, of the critical world, of the in
fidelic world, of the world of purity and
love and belief and hope. The largest
niche in history itself, and Jesus fills
that niche. May all our little lives re-
vOlve around his greater one as stars
around the sun, humbly and gladly con
Tossing him as the source of our life and
light.